John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy on climate, is stepping down from the Biden administration in the coming weeks, according to two people familiar with his plans.
Kerry, a longtime senator, former secretary of state, and the 2004 Democratic nominee for president, was tapped shortly after Joe Biden’s November 2020 election to take on the new role created specifically to fight climate change on behalf of the administration on the global stage.
Kerry’s departure plans were first reported Saturday by Axios.
Kerry plans to work on Biden’s re-election campaign, Axios reported.
Kerry was one of the leading drafters of the 2015 Paris climate accords, which then-President Donald Trump walked away from in 2017.
Biden’s decision to tap Kerry for the post was seen as one way the incoming president was making good on his campaign pledge to battle so-called climate change.
“The climate crisis is a universal threat to humankind and we all have a responsibility to deal with it as rapidly as we can,” Kerry said in a visit to Beijing last summer, when he met with Vice President Han Zheng.
At international climate summits, Kerry maintained a spot in the international limelight, meeting met with world leaders, major business figures and scientists, all interspersed with one news conference after another.
Should the White House maintain a climate envoy position?
“John Kerry’s tireless work to deliver global progress on the climate crisis has been heroic,” former Vice President Al Gore, who has focused primarily on climate in his life after elected office, said in a statement Saturday.
While his celebrity status and progressive politics have made him a favorite of the establishment media around the world, Kerry also has strong critics.
Many Republicans and conservatives weren’t sorry to see him go.
🚨 BREAKING: John Kerry – a longtime career politician who ran for president and failed – announced he is stepping down as the Climate Czar. This is long overdue.
Check out when I exposed his swampy practices during his time in office last year:pic.twitter.com/lksBI0xjUD
— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) January 13, 2024
#JohnKerry is a fraud and a grifter. He has found a way to bilk taxpayers and continue his lavish lifestyle on our dime while pretending he is the all powerful Oz. pic.twitter.com/qhx9iej06n
— Michelle Maxwell (@MichelleMaxwell) January 13, 2024
John Kerry to Step Down as US Climate Envoy to Join Biden Campaign
They need Biden back in the WH to close the lid on the coffin. https://t.co/2VKll6S4R2
— FFT1776™ (@FFT1776) January 14, 2024
The Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate law in U.S. history, is pumping billions of dollars into renewable energies. But many facets of the law emphasize domestic production, thus leading other nations to complain that the law is protectionist and detrimental to their own green industries.
And for years, the United States opposed the creation of a “loss and damage” fund that would see rich nations contribute billions of dollars to help developing countries, often hit hard by extreme weather events.
During COP27 in Egypt in 2022, the fund was approved, as the U.S. and other rich countries relented and supported it. However, Kerry is always quick to say the fund is not about “reparations” or “compensation,” and so far the U.S. has promised only modest funding for it.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
